Posts Tagged With: Depression

Book Review: The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper

Reviewed by Heather C

Title: The Gravity of Us
Author: Phil Stamper
Heroes: Cal/Leon
Genre: M/M Young Adult Contemporary
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Release Date: February 4, 2020
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Cal wants to be a journalist, and he’s already well underway with almost half a million followers on his FlashFame app and an upcoming internship at Buzzfeed. But his plans are derailed when his pilot father is selected for a highly-publicized NASA mission to Mars. Within days, Cal and his parents leave Brooklyn for hot and humid Houston.

With the entire nation desperate for any new information about the astronauts, Cal finds himself thrust in the middle of a media circus. Suddenly his life is more like a reality TV show, with his constantly bickering parents struggling with their roles as the “perfect American family.”

And then Cal meets Leon, whose mother is another astronaut on the mission, and he finds himself falling head over heels–and fast. They become an oasis for each other amid the craziness of this whole experience. As their relationship grows, so does the frenzy surrounding the Mars mission, and when secrets are revealed about ulterior motives of the program, Cal must find a way to get to the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2020 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Coming Home for Christmas by RaeAnne Thayne

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Coming Home for Christmas
Author:RaeAnne Thayne
Series: Haven Point #10
Heroine/Hero: Elizabeth and Luke Hamilton
Genre: MF Contemporary
Length: 384 Pages
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: September 24, 2019
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Hearts are lighter and wishes burn a little brighter at Christmas…

Elizabeth Hamilton has been lost. Trapped in a tangle of postpartum depression and grief after the death of her beloved parents, she couldn’t quite see the way back to her husband and their two beautiful kids…until a car accident stole away her memories and changed her life. And when she finally remembered the sound of little Cassie’s laugh, the baby powder smell of Bridger and the feel of her husband’s hand in hers, Elizabeth worried that they’d moved on without her. That she’d missed too much. That perhaps she wasn’t the right mother for her kids or wife for Luke, no matter how much she loved them.

But now, seven years later, Luke finds her in a nearby town and brings Elizabeth back home to the family she loves, just in time for Christmas. And being reunited with Luke and her children is better than anything Elizabeth could have imagined. As they all trim the tree and bake cookies, making new holiday memories, Elizabeth and Luke are drawn ever closer. Can the hurt of the past seven years be healed over the course of one Christmas season and bring the Hamiltons the gift of a new beginning?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, M/F, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: A Heart Divided by T.L. Travis

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: A Heart Divided
Author: T.L. Travis
Series: Social Sinners #3
Heroes: Mickey/Benny/River
Genre: M/M/M Contemporary
Length: 184 pages
Publisher: Encompass Ink
Release Date: March 19, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: How can one’s heart be divided without someone feeling left out, even if it’s yourself?

That was the challenge Mickey Payne, bass player for the band Social Sinners, was tasked with when he fell in love with two men. “The heart wants what the heart wants, and you’d be a fool to deny it,” his mother told him when he brought his concerns to her over the unconventional relationship he was in.

Entering into the triad, he of course had his reservations, but all doubt gets cast aside when they need his help.

Will his heart be able to survive? Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: In the Shadows (Social Sinners #2) by T.L. Travis

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: In the Shadows
Author: T.L. Travis
Series: Social Sinners #2
Heroes: Joey Hayes/Ricky “Stoli” Branson
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 202 Pages
Publisher: Encompass Ink
Release Date: 08/17/18
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: For Ricky “Stoli” Branson, the stars were on his side. Social Sinners was headlining their first sold out US tour. Radio stations across the states were playing their songs, and he’d won the heart of the man he loved.

Everything was going great, or so he foolishly believed…

When an accident has them burying one of their own and leaves another fighting for his life, Stoli questions his beliefs. Or lack thereof.

“Have faith,” his mother tells him. But how can you have faith in something that threatens to take away your only reason for breathing?
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Behind the Lights (Social Sinners #1) by T.L. Travis

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Behind the Lights
Author: .T.L Travis
Series: Social Sinners #1
Heroes: Joey Hayes/Ricky “Stoli” Branson
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 172 Pages
Publisher: Encompass Ink
Release Date: June 9, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Joey Hayes and his best friend Ricky Branson have been together through the good times, as well as the bad. Attending their first concert as teens set the path for their futures in motion. Shortly after, the pair joined band class where they meet Ethan and Mick and the foursome formed the metal band, Social Sinners.

Things were going according to plan until Lucas Shane entered their lives, disrupting the flow and testing the strength of their friendship.

When Joey spirals down a dark path after catching his cheating boyfriend, this tasked the other three band members with making a difficult decision that could end his career as their lead singer.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Falling Down by Eli Easton

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Falling Down
Author: Eli Easton
Narrator: Michael Stellman
Series: N/A
Heroes: Josh/Mark
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 7 Hours, 33 Minutes
Publisher: Pinkerton Road
Release Date: April 17, 2019
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Josh finds himself homeless at eighteen, but he has a plan. He’ll head north on the bus to New England and spend October there for his mother’s sake. She always talked about going to see the fall leaves someday. And when the leaves are done and the harsh winter comes, Josh plans to find a place to curl up and let go. It will be a relief to finally stop fighting.

Mark spent his life trying to live up to the tough swagger of his older brothers until he pushed himself so far against his nature that he cracked. Now a former Marine, he rents a little cabin in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where he can lick his wounds and figure out what to do with the rest of his life. One thing was clear: Mark was nobody’s hero.

Fate intervenes when Josh sets up camp under a covered bridge near Mark’s cabin. Mark recognizes the dead look in the young stranger’s eyes, and he feels compelled to do something about it. When Mark offers Josh a job, he never expects that he’ll be the one to fall.

The snow is coming soon. Can Mark convince Josh that the two of them can build a life together before the flurries begin?
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Montana Sky by R.J. Scott

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Montana Sky
Author: R.J. Scott
Series: Montana #6
Heroes: Tyler & Martin
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 143 pages
Publisher: Love Lane Books
Release Date: April 24, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When they spend time alone on a Montana mountainside will Tyler ever convince Martin that like sapphires, love is worth searching for?

Martin’s name was the very last on a kill list. The son of a murderer, he’s had no childhood; lost in a horrific holding pattern of death that turned his heart to stone. Thanks to the man who called him brave and spared his life, he no longer has to look over his shoulder, but he does have one question. Why did Justin let him live?

Tyler Colby has identified a major flaw in the seismic mapping system used to monitor earthquake activity. Sent to Crooked Tree by his employer, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, he is tasked with adding a new remote station to the network. The installation should be his entire focus, but the lure of sapphires and his attraction to a heartbroken young man called Martin is enough to make him want more. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Escaping Indigo by Eli Lang

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Escaping Indigo
Author: Eli Lang
Series: Escaping Indigo #1
Heroes: Micah/Bellamy
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 253 Pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: July 17, 2018
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Micah thought he’d always be in a band. All he ever wanted was to play drums and make great music, but when his best friend and bandmate passes away, Micah is left adrift. The thing that’s always lifted him up is now a reminder of everything he’s lost.

In an attempt to put his life back together, Micah takes a job as roadie for his favorite band, Escaping Indigo. He’s always admired the lead singer, Bellamy. On stage, Bellamy is confident, glittery, and radiant. But as the two grow closer, Micah realizes that in person, Bellamy is quiet, introspective, and a little uncertain. And that’s the person Micah is falling for.

Micah is determined to know all of Bellamy, both the rock star side and the side hidden from the audience, the side that creates music that touches Micah’s heart. Bellamy has secrets of his own, though, things he doesn’t want to share with anyone. And trying to uncover Bellamy’s truths might be the thing that ends up pushing him away.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: War Paint by Sarah Black War Paint

Reviewed by Ami

Title: War Paint
Author: Sarah Black
Series: States of Love
Heroes: Ben & Eli
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 88 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: May 25, 2018
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: There’s an art to love.

Mural artist Ben has come from Tel Aviv to Atlanta to work on a commission. A successful artist, he’s still lonely and isolated after his family’s rejection. Ben is charmed and surprised when local soldier Eli mistakes him for homeless, and brings him a cup of coffee and a biscuit. This gesture opens the door. Eli is lost, trying to make sense of a future without the Army after a combat injury ends his career.

Art gives them a new language and a path forward. But lost men can reach out, desperate to hang on to anyone close. Is what they find together real, and the kind of love that will last? Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: In the Desert by Elliot Joyce

Reviewed by Ami

Title: In the Desert
Author: Elliot Joyce
Series: States of Love
Heroes: Wren/Felipe
Genre: Contemporary YA
Length: 106 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: May 4, 2018
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Can a Navajo trans teen and a nerdy Catholic find the place they belong… and maybe themselves? In the desert, anything is possible….

When Wren came out as transgender before his senior year, it cost him most of his friends. His father hopes joining a Boy Scout troop might help Wren meet other young men his age and be accepted for who he is.

Felipe Nieves wants the new guy in the troop to feel comfortable, and he reaches out to Wren. They become fast friends… with something more beneath the surface. Those feelings confuse Felipe, since his religion considers this a sin—and he’s always assumed he was straight—but he can’t help pining for Wren. Asking him out will take courage, and getting together won’t be easy… but through their friendship, both young men might find their identities… and learn to embrace them in a unique coming-of-age story set against the beauty of the American Southwest.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment